First of May 2002
AGAINST THE CAPITALIST NEW WAR ORDER -
WORKERS SELF-EMANCIPATION!
Empires and systems rise and fall. We are now in the third industrial
revolution of capitalism. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, there
is only one superpower left, the United States. USA dominates the military,
economical, technological and cultural dimensions of power. The world
is treated as a chessboard where the USA both manipulates and accommodates
the various players to keep the supremacy.
What differs todays flexible "producing on demands" from former
handcrafts is the industrial size. New technology makes it possible to
control the chain from the raw materials, production and to sale. The
production fits into the changing "market", and as workers we
know the consequences: Flexible working hours, flexible work force, the
use of subcontractors, lean production, rationalization and unemployment.
The flexible work force is adjusted by using casual labour and enterprises
making profits of slave labour (Temporary Work Agencies).
The globalisation penetrates increasingly more parts of the world. Raw
materials, production and markets are often situated at different places,
and it makes the system sensitive for workers actions and unstable political
conditions. This vulnerability forces a change in the military system:
To put it into industrial terms: "Producing on demand" makes
"military intervention on demand" necessary. The old "assembly
lines" are old fashioned. The new ones must be fast, mobile and "hard
hitting", and if possible act before conflicts are escalating. New
products, even nuclear, must be developed according to the various tasks
and needs.
The US-lesson of the Balkan wars ten years ago was that they were involved
too late. The newly reunified Germany forced a rapid recognition of Slovenia
and Croatia in 1991, and started to reactivize the old "autobahn"
to Croatia, Albania, Turkey and Iran. Russia had contacts to Serbia. The
answer from the USA was first to support the "muslim" Bosnia.
Then they initiated an alliance between Bosnia and Croatia, and supplied
them with arms to be used against the Serbs. These Balkan conflicts were
"solved" after 38 months war, NATO`s air offensive in 1995 and
the Dayton agreement.
The times required over all strategic plans. Just as the the Marshall
Plan transformed Western Europe in the 50`s, the US needed a plan for
Eastern and Central Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia and South East Asia.
By controlling a "corridor" of strategic countries, the US could
get access to huge oil- and gas resources and undermine European, Russian,
Iranian and Chinese ambitions.
The next conflict to appear in Europe was in Kosovo with NATO`s military
intervention in the spring 1999. The US interests in this war were not
primarly to avoid etnical cleansing by the Serbs against the muslim majority.
It was to show Russia, and the increasingly more intergrated block EU,
that the Anglo-Americans (USA and Great Britain) were the masters, and
to avoid a larger Balkan war. A larger Balkan war would have been a serious
set back or disaster for their plans of controlling the Eurasian corridor
and by this their world supremacy.
The terrorist attacks of September the 11th 2001 made it possible to put
into practice many plans, as the Silk Road Strategy and NATO`s new strategic
concept of having rapid, mobile, military units. The Silk Road Strategy
Act (1999), named by the ancient Silk Road, is a "Marshall Plan"
to implement commerce- and security ties between Eurasia and the US. The
strategy to have multiple oil- and gas pipelines is not only economical,
but also highly political to avoid dependence from the south (Iran), north
(Russia) and east (China).
One of these main pipelines planned is the Baku (Azerbaijan)- Ceyhan (Turkey)
pipeline, routed through Georgia and Kurdish areas, but avoiding Russia
and Iran. The other main pipeline should go through Afghanistan, prepared
by the company Unocal, to avoid dependence on Iranian and Chinese routes
to the rapid growing energy market in South -East Asia. It was stopped
because of the endless fightings in Afghanistan, but today when Afghanistan
and many Central Asian States have come under strong US-military presence
and influence, these piplines are on the agenda. Russia is highly critical
of the US-presence, having themselves a cruel war against "fundamentalist"
in Chechnya to secure an oil pipeline.
Additionally the Iraq, Iran and North Korea have been declared as the
"Axis of the Evil" by president Bush. The demonization of North
Korea comes from the US strategy in South East Asia and the Far East.
US worst nightmare here is a reunification of North and South Korea. South
Koreas close links to the United States enables a shielding of Japan,
and thereby preventing Japan from becoming an independent and major military
power. A presence in the South- and Far East is also important to undermine
further Chinese influence.
The very strong US ties to the Saudi Arabia do not come so much from their
own need of oil as the access to the profits and the control of the prices
of the world energy market. Just as coal was decisive for the first industrial
revolution, the "black gold" is still in the core of the capitalist
development. The role of Saudi Arabia has decreased compared to the past,
but they are still the largest producer before Russia and the important
US-baby Norway.
The majority of the terrorists participating in the actions against the
World Trade Center and Pentagon were from Saudi Arabia. By attacking the
USA, they also hit the pro-USA fraction in the Saudi Arabian ruling class.
The Saudi Arabian social pact is based on the exploitation of the 5 millions
foreign workers in oil- and service industry and repression against all
forms of opposition. In recent time shortages of water, privatisations
and a rapid population growth create social unrest. Controversies have
appeared in the ruling class, in which the Bin Laden family comes from.
USA is in a hurry and do a lot of measures simultaneously. A report to
the US Congress January the 8th outlined that Pentagon needs to be prepared
to use new tactical nuclear weapons against China, Russia, Iraq, North
Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria. They want to stabilize Saudi Arabia by attacking
the "Axis of the Evil" state Iraq. At the same time they accelerate
the Silk Road Strategy and the other efforts to be less dependent on oil
from the Middle East.
The war preparations against Iraq are the "shadow" behind the
events in the Middle East. The US main police stations and allies in the
region are Turkey and Israel. Tactical nuclear weapons penetrating the
command bunkers of Iraq can be tested and used. In this war-scenario,
remembering PLO positions during the last Gulf War, there is no obvious
present function for the Palestinian Authorities. The US see that, but
maintains official positions to accommodate Arab states and to build the
broader alliance against Iraq.
The "Oslo process" was an agreement implementing a Palestinian,
neo-colonial "Bantustan" on almost total dependence on Israel.
Western subsidies went to the PLO-lead Authorities without any serious
questioning about corruption. As a result of the lessons of the former
Intifada, Israel started to import temporary workers from China and Eastern
Europe instead of using Palestinians. That created both unemployment and
large social problems in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Sharons visit
to the Al Aqsa mosque in 2000 was a deliberate provocation. The new Intifada
was met by violence from Israel, counter violence from suicide bombers,
and the conflict escalated. All culminating by the cruel Israeli operation,
the "Defensive Wall", initiated the Easter 2002.
At the same time as these events happen in the Middle East, the USA is
stregthening their access to new oil resources in Central Asia and Latin
America. The recent escalation of the Vietnam-style war plan called Plan
Colombia, is to secure natural resources, especially oil, and to gain
control to the geopolitical strategic region. Colombia is a portal to
Amazonas which will be increasingly important because of the natural resources
and the development of genetic engineering. Colombia is also close to
the important US oil-supplier Venezuela, where president Hugo Chavez recently
suffered a coup attempt.
By mentioning this, we have not forgotten Africa. This rich continent
of minerals, natural resources and oil has, and is suffering so much of
wars, hunger, diseases and imperialism, as the IWA-Section in Nigeria,
the Awareness League has described it. Africas role will be increasingly
important as todays imperialist globalisation continues.
We have in this First of May statement given an overview on the capitalist
New War Order. The terrorist attacks hit the United States at a syncronized
downturn of the economies in Asia, Europe, South America and the USA.
Before the September 11th the ILO estimated a loss of 24 million jobs
in 2002. Afterwards, these prepared attacks at workers conditions were
justified because of the new situation.
The increasingly more militarized phase of new capitalism, reveals clearly
that the reformist unions are not built to counter the offensive. These
bureaucratic, centralist "service-corporations" are dependent
on subsidies and legislative aid from the capitalist states. These states,
which also need to finance the new wars, are directing the socalled "war
against terrorism" towards a war against the working class and its
rights: Development of security states, privatization of "welfare",
mass layoffs, union busting, measures against the unemployed and poor,
tightening of the anti-immigration regimes and flexibilization of the
labour market.
The "anti-terrorist" laws we see worldwide are implemented to
be used against demonstrations, strikes and generally against everyone
that wants to fight against the social, economical and military wars made
by the capitalists. We must not forget, the First of May 2002, that the
anarchist Haymarket Martyrs were persecuted to stop the strike movement
and its activists for the 8 hours day in 1886 in Chicago. The "terrorist
card" was thrown against the anarchists, by accusing them of having
exploded a provocatory bomb. This event has ever since become a boomerang
against the capitalists, and the Haymarket Martyrs belong to the international
proletariat and the universal commemoration of May Day!
Today, there are reasons to fear that this "terrorist card"
will be played again. Europol has written a report to EU where anarchists,
especially in Spain, Italy and Greece are targeted as terrorists alongside
Al-Qaeda. They blame anarchists unjustly, and do not mention fascists
and nazies as a threat. Additionally, the Spanish EU Presidency says,
without yet mentioning anarchists, that the terrorists hide in social
fronts. So, by criminalizing social movements and fronts they can arrest
and intimidate activists and confiscate funds. In Norway, the law enables
15 years of prison by collecting, and 10 years by giving money to a "terrorist"
organisation.
The capitalists and the state need predictable opponents being dependent
on the legal framework, structures, and subsidies. All in order to direct,
control, reduce, split and eventually crush the organisations. The IWA
refuses to integrate its free associations into the capitalist system.
The various direct actions, activities, propaganda and solidarity are
based on our own strength, and the economic means come from the members
fees. It is not a threat to confiscate our funds. We are federalists,
and do not build large, centralist funds.
As anarchosyndicalists, we do not class collaborate, as for example in
"union elections" under state schemes. We do not have paid union
officials, and we do not receive subsidies from the enemies, as some socalled
"libertarian" organisations do. Organisations that increasingly
are creating stronger parallell structures to build a phoney "IWA".
Today`s capitalism reveals the basic lesson that the state and the military
forces defend the interests of the capitalists against the workers. The
IWA, the inheriting of the First International recovers the anti–militarist
tradition and proposes boycotts against manufacturing of arms and general
strike against war. We see clearly the links and integration between economical,
technological, political and military interests. The free associations
of the IWA are fighting on an economical, social, cultural, political
and anti-militarist level to replace the capitalism and state by the free
federation of workers free associations - libertarian communism.
The Sections and Friends of the IWA have been, and are active against
the wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Colombia. The 2nd week of April
2002, the IWA organised coordinated actions against the Temporary Work
Agencies, casual work and unemployment. Sections are active against the
flexibilisation of the labour market, as now in Italy (article 18), against
the social, economical and political crisis in Argentine and against the
dam projects by Endesa in Chile, to mention some issues. The fight for
reinstatement of the worker Michel in Amiens fits into a pattern we see
clearly from the URGENT ACTIONS of the IWA. The employers attack activists
of the IWA Sections instead of improving the work conditions!
No doubt, the global capitalism throws its masks and shows its true character,
now when the International Workers Association is approaching its 80th
Anniversary!
Against the capitalist new war order- workers self emancipation!
Long live the IWA!
Oslo, the 15th of April 2002
IWA- Secretaria